Norman J. Warren
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Norman John Warren (25 June 1942 – 11 March 2021) was an English film director best known for such 1970s horror films as Satan's Slave (1976), Prey (1977) and Terror (1978). Warren is also known for sex comedies such as Outer Touch (also known as Outer Spaced and Spaced Out, 1979).
Along with the films of Pete Walker, Warren's movies are sometimes dubbed "New Wave" British horror, on the basis that they upped the ante in terms of sexual explicitness and gore from that of the Hammer and Amicus productions that dominated the genre in UK cinema up to the early 1970s.
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Life and career
An avid film fan from childhood, Warren entered the film industry as a runner on The Millionairess (1960) and as an assistant director (The Dock Brief, 1962) before directing the short film Fragment in 1965. Calcutta-born Bachoo Sen (1934–2002), owner of the Astral Cinema in Brewer Street, London, who had an interest in film production, saw Fragment and subsequently hired Warren to direct two feature-length sex films, Her Private Hell (1968) and Loving Feeling (1969). Both were successes, but Warren saw little of the profits.
Not wanting to be typecast as a director of sex films, Warren turned down a third directing offer from Sen (Love is a Splendid Illusion, 1970) and had to wait several years to raise the money required to make Satan's Slave (1976), the first of a series of horror films that he directed. Warren's final two films, Bloody New Year and Gunpowder (both 1987), were hampered by low budgets imposed by producer Maxine Julius.
Although Warren did not release a feature film between 1987 and 2016, he continued to work in the industry directing music videos and educational short films such as Person to Person, a BBC film designed for students of English. His horror films developed a following, culminating in the making of Evil Heritage, a 1999 documentary about his work, and the release of a DVD box set in 2004.
In 2007 Warren worked on the supplementary features for the Region 1 DVD releases of Corridors of Blood (1958), The Haunted Strangler (1958) and First Man into Space (1959). He was a regular guest at Manchester's Festival of Fantastic Films.
In 2016, Warren announced whilst being interviewed by journalist Steve Green that he was in post-production on a new feature film, a thriller set in London's Chinatown. The completion of Susu was confirmed at Birmingham FearFest in May 2017, at which Warren was a guest of honour.
Warren died on 11 March 2021 at the age of 78.
Filmography
- Incident (1959, completed 2007) (director, editor)
- The Millionairess (1960) (runner)
- The Dock Brief (1962) (third assistant director)
- Shellarama (1965) (assistant editor)
- Fragment (1965) (director, editor)
- Night of the Generals (1966) (third assistant director)
- The Sailor from Gibraltar (1967) (third assistant director)
- Her Private Hell (1968) (director, editor)
- Loving Feeling (1969) (director, editor)
- Rod the Mod (1970) (assistant editor)
- Oink! (1970) (editor)
- Satan's Slave (1976) (director, editor)
- Prey (1977)
- Terror (1978) (director, sound editor)
- Outer Touch (a.k.a. Spaced Out and Outer Spaced, 1979)
- Inseminoid (a.k.a. Horror Planet, 1981)
- Warbirds Air Display (1984) (director, editor)
- Person to Person (1985)
- Gunpowder (1986)
- Bloody New Year (1987)
- Meath School (1992) (producer, director)
- Buzz (1993) (director, editor)
- Doing Rude Things (1995) (interviewee)
- Evil Heritage (1999) (interviewee, subject)
- Christopher Lee: a Life in Films (2003) (post-production supervisor)
- Corridor Gossip (2007)
- Haunted Memories (2007)
- Making Space (2007)
- Horror Icon (2007) (interviewee)
- Into the Dark: Exploring the Horror Film (2008) (interviewee)
- Norman J. Warren Presents: Horrorshow (2008) (host)
- Grave Tales (2009) (promotional director)
- Slice and Dice: The Slasher Film Forever (2010) (interviewee)
- Daddy Cross (2011) (voice-over)
- Daddy Cross: The Ten Commandments (2012) (voice-over)
- The Devil Made Them Do It (2013) (teaser-sample)
- Turn Off Your Bloody Phone: Norman J. Warren and the Ghost (2013) (produced with Xiaoxiao Sun)
- Mark Of The Times (2013) (interviewee)
- Invasion Of The Body Snatchers: Discussing The Pod (2013) (panel contributor)
- 9.5mm Film Documentary (2014) (interviewee)
- Susu (2017) (producer / executive producer)
- Dr. Balden Cross: Beyond The Void (2018) (Cameo appearance)
Bibliography
- Gods In Polyester, or, a Survivors' Account of 70's Cinema Obscura (2004, Succubus Press) (contributed pieces on Satan's Slave, Prey, Terror and Inseminoid)
- Gods In Spandex, or, a Survivors' Account of 80's Cinema Obscura (2007, Succubus Press) (contributed pieces on Bloody New Year and Gunpowder)
Pages linking in as of March 2021
Aero Theatre, Ava Cadell, BFI Flipside, Bloody New Year, Candace Glendenning, Cinema X, David McGillivray (screenwriter), Derek Ford, Françoise Pascal, Glory Annen, Gods in Polyester, Grave Tales, Her Private Hell, Inseminoid, Jackie Lee (Irish singer), James Aubrey (actor), John Scott (composer), Killer's Moon, Loving Feeling, Michael Craze, Michael Gough, Nick Magnus, Norman Warren, Outer Touch, Pete Walker (director), Peter Biziou, Peter Boyle (film editor), Peter Mayhew, Prey (1977 film), Satanic film, Satan's Slave (1976 film), Slice and Dice: The Slasher Film Forever, Stanley Long, Terror (1978 film), Trouser Bar, Virgin Witch
See also
- Gods In Spandex A Survivors Account Of 80s Cinema Obscura
- British exploitation
- British horror
- British sex film
